CONSUMER TRUST

Researchers find there’s marketing opportunity in using plain language

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2025

If people don’t understand what you’re telling them, they don’t trust you. So why present customers with a complicated contract?

Consumers don’t trust what they don’t understand. It makes digital service and social media companies that depend on dense terms-of-use contracts some of the least trusted businesses out there. 

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

But what if these organisations were up front about what consumers were giving up in return for free services? Researchers at the University of Georgia in the US wanted to know how much trust tech companies gain with more transparent user terms. 

 

“You have these thousands of word-long contracts in a language that most ordinary people cannot understand,” explains Tari Dagogo-Jack, an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the university. 

 

“So, if you can rewrite this statement or rewrite sections of the contract in words that everyone can understand, then they should be more willing to trust you. But it’s a double-edged sword.” 

 

Dagogo-Jack and his co-author, Legal Studies Associate Professor Tim Samples, recently published their findings in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. They found that transparency increases consumer trust, but only to a point. 

 

Average social media contract is almost 7,000 words  

 

Decades of research has shown that people believe and trust things that are easy to understand, yet the average social media contract in the US is 6,712 words in dense legalese. 

 

“There was a symbolic interpretation of providing these summaries of the contracts and then there was the literal interpretation of what the contracts say,” Dagogo-Jack notes. “Symbolically, the fact you are making it easy for me to understand is a great thing … most companies aren’t doing that, so they’re clearly on my side. 

 

“On the other hand, because they’ve made it easy for me to understand, now I can read literally what they’re saying – ‘I’m taking your data, I can use it however I want, and you have no legal recourse’. Obviously, I don’t want to give my data to a company like that.” 

The space between the consumer perception of trustworthiness stemming from merely providing these summaries and the actual trust of consumers – once they read through the [clear-language] contract synopses – provides takeaways for marketers, consumer groups and policymakers. 

 

“This can be a marketing opportunity,” Samples believes. “[Providing plain language summaries] provides a positive message around your contracting. You’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re not like the rest of these guys. We do things a little differently. We’re not trying to bruise you in this contracting relationship … we’re doing something reasonable here’.” 

 

You can find out more about the study here. 

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    Dr Kin Kariisa

    Group CEO - Next Media

    Dr. Kin Kariisa is an extraordinary force at the helm of Next Media Services, a conglomerate encompassing NBS TV, Nile Post, Sanyuka TV, Next Radio, Salam TV, Next Communication, Next Productions, and an array of other influential enterprises. His dynamic role as Chief Executive Officer exemplifies his unwavering commitment to shaping media, business, and community landscapes.
    With an esteemed academic journey, Dr. Kariisa’s accolades include an Honorary PhD in exemplary community service from the United Graduate College inTexas, an MBA from United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Huazong University in China, and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Makerere University.
    Dr. Kariisa pursued PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. As a dynamic educator, he has shared his expertise as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at both Makerere University and Radboud University.

    Dr Kin did his PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radbond University in Nigmegen, Netherlands. He previously served as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and Radbond University in Netherlands.

    Dr Kin did his postgraduate courses in Strategic Business Management, Strategic Leadership Communication and Strategies for Leading Successful Change Initiatives at Harvard University, Boston USA.

    • Other current and previous roles played by Dr Kin Kariisa:
    • Lecturer of e-Government and Information Security to graduate students at Makerere University, Kampala and Radbond University in the Netherlands
    • Director of Eco Bank Uganda Limited, one of the largest banks in Africa
    • Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, an umbrella industry association for all Television, Radio and online broadcasters in Uganda.
    • Chairman of Board of Directors of Nile Hotel International, that owns the leading hotel in Uganda, Kampala Serena Hotel.
    • Chairman of Board of Directors of Soliton Telmec Uganda, the leading telecom company in Optic fibre business managing over 80% of optic fibre in Uganda.